


Ghosts of Ryder's Past

by ThreeLittleDucks



Series: What Remains [3]
Category: Mass Effect: Andromeda
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-07-07
Updated: 2018-01-09
Packaged: 2018-11-28 20:49:44
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 2,859
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11425941
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ThreeLittleDucks/pseuds/ThreeLittleDucks
Summary: Before Andromeda. Before the Initiative.Sara Ryder walked a dark path.





	1. I'd rather not talk about it.

“Look kid. I’ve been around awhile.” Drack said leaning back in his chair. “There’s not much I haven’t done.”

“So don’t play, just drink.” Sara said, rocking her own chair back on its legs. The newly opened Vortex wasn’t all that big and was fairly busy. However, establishing the first viable outpost on Eos had gotten Sara and her team a table in the back corner and many of the patrons were willing to buy their drinks. “It’s just a bit of a get to know you slash bonding type thing. I’m not going to make you. Besides, it’s not like there’s anything in this joint that can get you drunk.”

“Heh, true.”

“Are we gonna talk about it or are we gonna do it?” Liam asked, setting his beer down on the table.

“Oh, we’re doing it.” Vetra placed her own bottle down, a discreet distance from everyone else’s drinks. “Unless Peebee’s going too scared.”

“Name calling won’t get you anywhere, Vetra.” The asari said. “And just for that, Cora’s going first.”

“Wait, what?”

“Now, now. There’s no weaseling out of it.”

“Fine.” Cora huffed.

 

“Never have I ever...seen a naked elcor.” Liam, Peebee and Sara took a drink.

Liam cited his work in crisis response. Peebee claimed the event was deeply traumatizing. As for Sara, “I’m pretty sure she was intoxicated. Only reason I could think of for walking down the street in broad daylight, asking where the vorcha jugglers went.”

“Really, ya’ think?” Peebee leaned forward. “Because never. Have I ever. Seen a vorcha juggle anything before….why are you all looking at me like...oh. But I didn’t mean...Fine.” She lifted her bottle to her lips.

 

Then it was the former smuggler’s turn. “Never have I ever...received a pardon.”

Sara took another drink, and Drack took his first.

“Must have been about four, five hundred years ago. Hijacked a batarian military convoy on some jungle on a planet in the ass end of the Terminus systems. Long story short. I ended up being pardoned because of some domestic infighting on Khar’shan I was issued a formal pardon for “services to the people”.”

“Services to the people?” Cora drawled out.

“Like I said. Long story.”

“Okay than. Ryder?”

“Oh, you know. The usual.” Sara kept her eyes on the table. “Arson, murder, and jaywalking.”

“Come o~n.” Peebee whined. “You’ve got to tell us something.”

“I’d rather not talk about it Peebee.”

“But…”

“No, Peebee.”

 

And so it went.

Never been on set on fire. Cora, Sara and Drack. Cora cited a slaver with a flamethrower. Drack said it was his own damn fault. And Sara said she’d rather not talk about it.

Never blew up a building. Vetra, Drack, Sara. Vetra said it was part of construction work she did when she was younger. Drack said it was one hell of a party. Sara said she’d rather not talk about it.

Never seen a naked asari. Everyone took a drink, then starred Liam down until he sheepishly lifted his bottle to his lips.

 

It was Peebee turn. She was slumped forward, her never had gone from unusual to ridiculous. She had rapidly reached the point where she drank more often than not and was becoming somewhat tipsy as a result. “Okay. I’ve got one.”

“Never have I ever fought a duel with an asari matriarch to the death.”

Peebee paused for dramatic effect before reaching for her drink. Sara interrupted her with a sigh before draining the last of the beer in her bottle. Everyone stared as she stood up and said one more time, “I don’t want to talk about it.”

And with that she left.


	2. Curiosity

“How did Sara lose her arm?” Vetra and Cora were in the armory. The biotic commando was cleaning her shotgun, while the turian was working in acquiring some materials the Pathfinder had requested.

“No idea.” Cora answered. “She doesn’t talk about it. And it isn’t in any of her records so don’t bother looking.”

“What are we talking about?” Liam walked in with a case of thermal clips.

“Sara and her arm.”

“Oh, that. Don’t ask her.” Liam set the case down. “Or maybe, do ask her? She wouldn’t talk about it in the Milky Way. But she might want to now. It couldn’t hurt.”

“Sure it could. Remember Verchual?” Cora started to assemble her weapon.

“Oh, yeah.”

“Who’s Verchaul?” Vetra asked.

“Was.” Cora corrected, “He left the Initiative before launch. Wouldn’t leave Sara alone. So she finally made a little bet with him. If he could knock her down in a sparring match she would tell everyone everything.”

“She let him down easy?”

Liam snorted. “If by easy, you mean two broken arms and a shattered rib cage. Then yeah, she let him down easy.”

“Oh.” Vetra’s mandibles flared a bit at that. “Remind me to never get on our Pathfinder’s bad side.” Then Vetra thought of a certain asari who loved a good mystery. “Do you think we should warn Peebee? Before she gets stabbed?”

The two humans paused at that and look at each other. Before bolting for the door


	3. Fiend

Vetra stepped off of the tram into Operations. She was looking for her sister, just to check up on her and to make sure she wasn’t getting into too much trouble. Vetra found Sid easily enough, not at her work station though. She was over at the militia office were a crowd had gathered around on of the larger screens. “What are you up to?”

“Vetra!” There wasn’t a trace of guilt in Sid’s voice. “Kandros was just going over the fight that happened at Site Two. With that kett monster.”

“...what information the Pathfinder could recover from kett databases suggest that they call them fiends. They’re big, armor plated and faster than they have any right to be.”

“Drack mentioned them,” one of the humans spoke up. “Don’t let them get close, they can knock even a krogan around. Could probably do worse to one of us.”

“Pathfinder team reported that most of the bodies at Site Two had been crushed or beaten to death.” Kandros confirmed. “The settlers had managed to seal it inside one of the buildings before the kett wiped them out.”

“How did it get out?” An asari asked.

Kandros sighed, and pushed a button. The screen flared to life with footage that Vetra recognized.

 

_“What does it say?”_

_“Run.”_

_Nyx stepped forward assault rifle spinning up. The Cyclone wasn’t the most accurate weapon, but at close range against a target that large it didn’t have to be. Not that it mattered as tracer rounds lit up the distance between rifle and monster and sparked off the kett’s armor._

_“Tempest we need extraction for the Pathfinder.” Harper commed._

_“FUCK THAT!” Ryder yelled drawing her weapon._

 

“Is that a sword?” Sid whispered to Vetra. “The Pathfinder has a sword?”

 

_“No can do, Pathfinder team.” Jath replied. “There are kett shuttles inbound to your location. The Tempest is grounded until they are gone.”_

_“Shit!”_

 

Vetra winced. She tried to be better with her language where her sister could hear her.

 

_“Vetra! Liam! On the roof and provide cover fire. Keep those kett back.” The pair moved to obey._

_“Ryder! Behind you!” Harper shouted. Ryder turned as the fiend charged. It ignored the blast from Harper’s shotgun and a massive hand tore through the air at the Pathfinder, who vanished in flash of blue._

 

“What was **that**? Vetra shushed Sid. She knew what was about to happen but she hadn’t actually seen it. She had been on the roof with Liam.

 

_The Pathfinder hadn’t gone far. Smaller and far nimbler than her opponent. She moved between its legs sword slashing. The monomolecular edge cut through the kett beasts armor with ease, but the fiend was to big for the wounds to do much more than irritate it. With grace that belied its size, the fiend spun looking for its prey._

_The Pathfinder glowed as her biotics flared. For one crucial second the fiend was balanced on a single limb, and at that second a shockwave slammed into it knocking it onto its back._

_Ryder moved, sword returning to her side, pistol appearing in her hand. Before the fiend could react she was on top of it, straddling its jaws, pistol barrel flush with one of its eyes. There was a single gunshot. Then Ryder was on the move again. Pistol back at her side, hand going over her shoulder for her sniper rifle. The fiend already dead, an incendiary round burning in its brain._

 

Kandros ended the playback.

“That. was. AWESOME!” Sid squeed.

One of the asari militia quietly asked the question everyone on the Pathfinder team was thinking. “Where did she learn to move like that?”


	4. Broken Memories

The door to the Pathfinder’s quarters opened and Sara up from what she was doing as her turian teammate walked in.

“You have a fan.” Vetra said.

“A fan?”

“My sister managed to see footage of you killing the fiend on Eos.”  Vetra sighed. Then said in a high pitched voice, “ _ The Pathfinder is the coolest EVER! _ She wants to meet you by the way.”

“I can probably make the time. She works in Ops doesn't she?”

“That would make her day.” Vetra looked around at the boxes the Pathfinder had been in the midst of unpacking. “What is all of this?”

“Stuff.” Sara laughed as Vetra gave the turian equivalent of a raised eyebrow. “Memento’s mostly. Some of it’s mine. Some of it’s...some of it  _ was _ my Dad’s.”

“Oh.” Vetra looked around for a change of subject. She found it in the bed. “How do you keep your bed so neat? It looks like it hasn’t even been slept in.”

“That’s because it hasn’t been.”

“What?” Vetra had not expected that.

“I…” Sara paused, looking conflicted for a moment. “I got involved in somethings back in the Milky Way that I shouldn’t have. By the end of it some very influential people wanted me dead. More than once I was attacked while I was sleeping. It ingrained a few habits in me that I can’t kick. I just can’t sleep in a bed.”

“Sara. I had no idea.” Vetra was at a loss, she had been trying to steer the conversation toward something more pleasant and it had backfired horribly.

“I’m not exactly proud of it.” Sara’s eyes were distant seeing something no one else could. “I was gone for so long and when I came back... Dad and Scott were looking for someone that didn’t exist anymore. And then I show up. This stranger wearing a familiar face. I couldn’t  **talk** to either one of them like I used to. I didn’t know what to say. I didn’t know if I could say anything, that would let them still love me.”

Tears ran down Sara’s face. Her face twisted with pain, deeper than any blade or bullet could reach. “And then we come here. Now Scott’s in a coma. And Dad’s…

“I didn’t even get to tell him…

“I can’t,

“I  **can’t..** ” Sara sobbed, the grief she had been holding back since her father died spilling over.

Vetra did the only thing she could. She crossed the distance between them, wrapped her arms around her friend. And just held her as she cried.


	5. A Private Conversation

“If you’re sure, Bradley.” Cora heard Sara talking as she walked into the Tempest’s Research lab. Since she had been meaning to talk to the Pathfinder, she rounded the corner and headed up the ramp.

“Positive, Pathfinder.” The mayor of Prodromos replied, voice distorted by transmission. “Kett activity has been low, and the militia Kandros sent out here have been keeping a close eye on things. We are going to be fine.”

“Alright, Bradley. That makes my next move easier to decide. Tempest out.” Sara ended the transmission just as Cora reached the end of the ramp. “Always a pleasure dealing with that man.” The Pathfinder said sincerely.

“Why is that?”

“‘Cause he’s one of the few people in this galaxy, outside of the Tempest, who treats me like a human being.” Sara turned to face Cora and propped her hip on the table. “You talk with Addison lately? She doesn’t trust me any farther than she could throw me. And Tann.” Sara made a gesture using three fingers. Kallo had informed the rest of the crew, the first time he saw Sara use it, that is ment something  _ very _ rude to salarians. And he agreed that it applied perfectly the Director Tann.

“Feeling a little out of your depth Private?”

“Private?” An inquisitive voice came from the main deck, as Cora’s hand flew up to cover her mouth.

“It just slipped out.” Cora mumbled as non human heads appeared over the railing.

“Who’s a Private?” Drack asked as the oldest members of the Pathfinder team reached the table.

“I  _ was _ ,” Sara emphasised. “I was only a Private Second Class when I was discharged from the Alliance Navy. Not exactly up there in terms of leadership. Part of why Addison is always giving me the stink eye. She looked up my service record.”

“Oh no.” Cora groaned and Sara gave a wry grin. “How much did she find?”

“As Director of Colonial Affairs she has full access to everything. So she got everything. Court martial transcripts included.”

“Shit.”

“Wait, court martial?” Drack cut in. “You were court martialed?”

“Yep. Pled guilty to one charge of desertion. After all I did fail to report for duty. For about a year.”

“Right.” Drack drawled. “And the reason you’re here and not rotting back home is..?”

“I had a friend who felt like he owed me for, well,” Sara wiggled the fingers of her left hand. “And that friend had pull with people in high places. So the Alliance settled for kicking me out of the Milky Way. Fortunately, Kandros and Kesh don’t seem to give a damn. And Tann doesn’t seem to realize service records are a thing.”

“Thank God for small favors.” Cora breathed.


	6. Revelations

Boarding the Tempest had been something of surprise for Jaal. While he had known that there was more than one alien species that had come from the _Jarevaon Imasaf_ , it was still something of a shock to find no less than **five** different species cohabiting on a single small ship. It had been highly tempting to lock the door to the room he had laid claim to, but the Pathfinder had convinced him otherwise. Using language and a tone of voice that reminded him distressingly of his older sisters.

So he found himself in the cargo bay, holding a bottle of water and listening.

“Bubble baths.” Lexi sighed, listing the things she missed.

“Barbeque.” Sara moaned around a mouthful of ration bar. “Good. Ol’ fashion. Slow roasted. Barbeque.”

“I question your tastes, when your eating one of those..things.” Cora nodded at the ration bars wrapper.

“I like them.” Sara said.

“You like Mecura bars?” Liam asked, clearly not believing her.

“What’s so bad about a Mecura bar?” Jaal felt the unfamiliar word roll around in his mouth.

“They’re only the nastiest thing ever produced.” Cora shuddered.

“The way Sara goes through them they can’t be that bad.” Vetra pointed out.

“Speaking from experience. Yes they are.” Liam argued. “No matter where I went in Crisis Response, a crate of those always showed up. And they were always the last thing anyone would touch.”

“I like them.” Sara whined.

“Oh, here.” Lexi reached out a hand. “I’ll try some.” Sara broke off a piece and handed it to her. She popped it in her mouth and began to chew. And chew. Tears welled in her eyes and she desperately looked around before bolting from the room.

Lexi came back minutes later with a half empty bottle of water and pointed an accusing finger at the Pathfinder. “You put those in your mouth on purpose?.”

“I _like_ them.” Sara pouted. “They’re cheap and meet my caloric requirements.”

 

“If I may ask.” Jaal interjected hesitantly. “What is it that you all did? Before coming to Helius I mean. I know what Liam was. And I assume that Lexi was still a doctor. But what about the rest of you?”

“Well, I was a soldier.” Cora started. “I joined the Alliance and ended up in a cross species initiative working with asari commandos.”

“Pretty much the same thing we’re doing now.” Drack said. “Run around all over and shoot things. I just got paid for it.”

“Smuggling.” Vetra added her part. “It wasn’t the safest. But it let me provide for my sister.”

“I freelanced as a contract killer on Illium.”

Cora, having expected some variation of Sara’s “it’s classified” response, choked on her water. She doubled over coughing as everyone else stared at the small human looking down at her hands. The cargo bay was silent save for Cora’ ragged breathing and the background noises of a starship.

“I’m, sorry.” Jaal broke the silence, “I’m not sure that term translated properly.”

“You were an **ASSASSIN**?” Liam managed to blurt out.

“Ah,” Jaal nodded. “It did translate.”


End file.
